US hits China over web-erasing of diplomat's name

The U.S. is tweaking China for its online blocking of the American ambassador's name.

Searches for Ambassador Jon Huntsman's name in Chinese on a popular microblogging site called Sina Weibo were met with a message Friday that said results were unavailable due to unspecified "laws, regulations and policies."

Huntsman, a Republican, is leaving his post and is seen as a potential White House contender in 2012.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in a Twitter posting Saturday that "it is remarkable" that even before Huntsman leaves Beijing, "China has made him disappear from the Internet."

China apparently widened its Internet policing after online calls for protests like those that have swept the Middle East.